No, she just abided by the doctrine as she understood it. We live about 35 miles from the small town (founded by German Catholic immigrants in the 1800's) where everyone knows everyone else (and, presumably, everyone else's business). I always figured the reason the Catholic church has everyone queue to the front of the church for communion was, at least in part, to make sure that anyone on the "no-communion" list would be pulled aside. Even where we live now, the priest required her to sign some document before he would allow her to participate in the ritual.
Weird thing is, my baby sister (if a 65 y.o. woman can be called that) every bit as atheist as I, makes it a point to attend mass at as many Catholic cathedrals in Europe and the US as he can, especially at Xmas, to walk the aisle to get the "Holy Cookie" (in her phrasing), which she adds to her collection to commemorate the holiday and the location. She skips the wine. Not that she's a tee-totaler, far from it, but she prefers a bit better quality in her vino than the priest profers.
Thank you, Max, for your response. The last thing I care or want to know about someone when I meet them is their "religion." The one thing about evangelicalism that I deem as its most despicable characteristic is its mandate to shove itself down another person's throat, and if you don't immediately "convert," well then, you are going to Hell. (Which, by the way, does not exist.)
Rather interesting, though not Roman Catholic, I enjoy the liturgy and ritual of the high Episcopal church, though my favorite services are the simple ones in chapel. I do not even believe in god, but I believe in a church going community -- at least one that sees love, and grace, as its only weapons. Queen Elizabeth I invented inclusion, when she declared that she did not care what church goers believed, as long as they all worshipped together. You and your neighbor are a bit less alien, and suspect, when you have common practice.
No, she just abided by the doctrine as she understood it. We live about 35 miles from the small town (founded by German Catholic immigrants in the 1800's) where everyone knows everyone else (and, presumably, everyone else's business). I always figured the reason the Catholic church has everyone queue to the front of the church for communion was, at least in part, to make sure that anyone on the "no-communion" list would be pulled aside. Even where we live now, the priest required her to sign some document before he would allow her to participate in the ritual.
Weird thing is, my baby sister (if a 65 y.o. woman can be called that) every bit as atheist as I, makes it a point to attend mass at as many Catholic cathedrals in Europe and the US as he can, especially at Xmas, to walk the aisle to get the "Holy Cookie" (in her phrasing), which she adds to her collection to commemorate the holiday and the location. She skips the wine. Not that she's a tee-totaler, far from it, but she prefers a bit better quality in her vino than the priest profers.
Thank you, Max, for your response. The last thing I care or want to know about someone when I meet them is their "religion." The one thing about evangelicalism that I deem as its most despicable characteristic is its mandate to shove itself down another person's throat, and if you don't immediately "convert," well then, you are going to Hell. (Which, by the way, does not exist.)
Glen
Rather interesting, though not Roman Catholic, I enjoy the liturgy and ritual of the high Episcopal church, though my favorite services are the simple ones in chapel. I do not even believe in god, but I believe in a church going community -- at least one that sees love, and grace, as its only weapons. Queen Elizabeth I invented inclusion, when she declared that she did not care what church goers believed, as long as they all worshipped together. You and your neighbor are a bit less alien, and suspect, when you have common practice.